TaZa Design

The Art of the Bottle Cap Collection: Drink Beer, Save the Caps!

If you’ve already started a bottle cap collection, this isn’t news, but everyone else, listen up: bottle cap collecting is a hobby you need. There’s a certain satisfaction in sourcing and sampling those rare brews from around the world, and collecting bottle caps is a great way to commemorate the moment. I mean, come on, any hobby that involves tasting new beers has to be a good one, right?! Right.

Some people choose to use their bottle cap collection in interior design while others keep them stored away for safe keeping.

Bottle Cap Collection World Records

There’s bottle cap collecting for fun and there’s bottle cap collecting for sport. Here are some of the most interesting world records that have to do with bottle cap collecting.

Largest Collection of Bottle Caps

Longest Chain of Bottle Caps

In 2014, a group of people got together and lined up 87,575 bottle caps like Dominoes to create the longest chain of bottle caps in the world.

Most Bottle Caps Removed with a Whip in One Minute

Yes, you read that right. And if you’re wondering, the number is 12. It’s humanly possible to remove 12 bottle caps with a whip in one minute. This may not be a world record that requires a large bottle cap collection, but it’s still pretty cool way to snag some bottle caps for a collection! Way to go, Adam Winrich.

Largest Bottle Cap Sculpture

Surprisingly, the largest bottle cap sculpture was made in a country where drinking alcohol is restricted: Kuwait. Though it’s not clear what kind of bottle caps were used, we’re going to guess they’re plastic soda bottle caps. Fatma Yousef Al Fadli organized the event, encouraging her friends and family to pitch in to help her collect 147,008 bottle caps required for the sculpture. A group of volunteers then built a globe 5.6 metres tall.

Tips for Bottle Cap Collectors

Even if you’re not going to ever come anywhere near breaking the world record for largest bottle cap collection, you can still enjoy bottle cap collecting as a hobby. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

1. Get involved in a beer trade.

If you don’t travel much – and even if you do – it can be hard to get local beers from unique places. Beer trades help you get different bottle caps. You also meet new friends in the process. The internet is rife with beer trade communities. Reddit and Beer Advocate are good places to start.

An automatic bottle opener like Pop the Top can help you keep caps in good condition when opening bottles.

2. Remove bottle caps without bending them.

You want to keep your bottle caps in the best possible condition. Unfortunately, traditional bottle openers damage the caps by bending or scratching them. Get an automatic bottle opener to preserve the art and look of each bottle cap. The opening mechanism in an automatic bottle opener leaves your bottle caps undamaged.

3. Choose a way to store/display your bottle cap collection.

Some people just throw them all in a box and others are more meticulous. If you want to keep your collection in good condition, you may want to get a Beer Cap Map or a bottle cap collector album.

Have an impressive bottle cap collection? Share a picture and tag us on Instagram or Twitter.